Army Volleyball Drops Star Series Heartbreak

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Army Volleyball (14-11, 11-5 PL) fell in five sets to Navy (17-8, 9-7 PL) on Saturday night in the annual Star Series match.

Army won the first two sets, by scores of 25-16 and 25-18 as the Black Knights looked posed to win the Star Series match for consecutive seasons.

Army still leads the all-time series vs. Navy, 53-21.

Army had a strong 3-0 start in the opening set. Paige Fiximer led Army with five kills in the first set along with the efforts of Savannah Bray with three kills and a timely block. Army soared through the first set 25-16.

Julia Johnson led the Army efforts in the second set with six kills. Bray added three kills and two blocks. Navy’s Jordan Llewellyn posted five kills, but Army’s multiple 3+ point runs secured the win in the second set, 25-18.

In the third for the Black Knights, Johnson totaled an impressive 8 kills, however, due to multiple attack and block errors, Army did not once hold the lead in the third set. A 5-kill effort from Navy’s Jamie Llewellyn helped the Midshipmen stay alive and force a fourth set.

Army’s Kai Nickerson had an explosive fourth set with 2 kills and a big block to help build he Black Knights’ momentum. Johnson added four kills to Army’s fourth set campaign.

Navy’s Ava Toppin recorded two kills and two blocks. Navy went on a four-point run at the end of the set to secure the Midshipmen victory 25-20.

Once again, Army did not hold a lead once in the fifth set, tying the score at 11-11 and 12-12. Nickerson delivered two big blocks toward the end of the set to go along with two Bray kills in an attempt to make a comeback. Ultimately, Navy won three straight points to win the set 15-12.

Johnson led the team with 20 kills for the Black Knights, followed by Fixemer with 12 and Cutler with 11. Diana Ethridge had a match-high 46 assists on the day and Alyssa Lukasik led the Army squad with 6 blocks on the evening.